Me singing: You cast out every fear.
Jesus: “Do you believe that?”
Me: Yes!
Jesus: “Are you sure you really believe that?”
Me: Pause… think to myself, and then respond- yes Lord I do.
Jesus: Ok, then stop looking to the right and to the left and keep your focus directly in front of you on me. So, when fear comes you want fall. You’ll trust me.
It so easy to allow fear to creep in when our focus gets shifted off of Jesus. I think of the story of Peter in Matthew 14: 25-31. Peter was bold enough to step out in faith in order to walk on water, even in the midst of the storm raging around him. It wasn’t until he took his focus off Jesus and started focusing on what was going on around him that he became fearful and started to sink. Vs. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord save me.” Vs 31 Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When we take our eyes off Jesus we can become overwhelmed by the things of this world, just like Peter did in the storm. We allow fear and lies to enter, crippling us from what God wants. No matter what things look like in life or what we are going through God is bigger and will give us the strength to overcome. All we have to do is keep our focus on Him, the “author and finisher” of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) When we keep our focus on Him we are able to live a life full of peace.
I love the way the Lord simply reminded me through a song we sang at training camp to keep my focus on Him and not on the things around me. It made me realize how much He cares for me to know that He wasn’t going to let my eyes sway to the left or to the right. What a loving God we serve.
Where do you find your focus today? Is it in front of you on the One who holds your life together? Or do you find yourself being overwhelmed by the things going on around you? I encourage you to take a look at where your focus lies and make sure it’s on Jesus. With Him everything else around you won’t seem so bad.
